Chapter 114

"When Prince Jing privately sold firearms to the Li army, what role did you play in this, that made him willing to share half of such exorbitant profits with you?"

Selling stolen weapons is a capital offense, and the fewer people who know about it, the better. However, Prince Jing did not eliminate Wei Ping, who knew the truth; clearly, replacing him with his own people would have been a more prudent approach.

Since hearing those two words, Wei Ping's face turned ashen. He knew perfectly well that he could not escape the punishment of the law. Now his only hope was that his confession could save his family's life.

"This sinful subject was deceived by Prince Jing and, in a moment of madness, committed a grave error. Now I have come to my senses and realize my mistake, but I know I cannot undo it. I only beg Your Highness for mercy. I will tell you everything I know. I implore Your Highness to show leniency and spare my family!"

"If it is found that they were indeed unaware of the situation, they will be dealt with leniently."

With Gu Shuan'an's approval, Wei Ping finally had no more worries and even felt a sense of relief. Humans are not plants or trees; how can they be without feelings? Constantly doing things that could cost him his head is like having a sharp blade hanging over his head at all times, causing him to live in constant fear and exhaustion.

"All along, Prince Jing has been sending messengers to communicate with me, but he has never shown himself. He instructed me to arrange for people within the city to smuggle things out of the city for him, and he forbade me from interfering in anything else. At first, I didn't know what he was asking me to smuggle, I only knew that the things would be transported to an inn outside the city for sale. Each time, they were covered tightly with a cloth. Out of curiosity, I couldn't resist once lifting the cloth and saw that under the cloth were stacked wooden boxes, and the boxes contained weapons. I was completely terrified!"

He immediately sent a message to Prince Jing, telling him that he would no longer transport weapons; the money earned from this arms dealing was too much to bear. Prince Jing replied, "I've already helped him transport weapons several times; we're in the same boat. If things are exposed, I won't be able to escape."

"As for why I was given half of the spoils, I believe it's firstly because I've been stationed in Liangzhou for many years and have some connections and channels of my own; secondly, it's to shut me up. Besides that..."

Wei Ping bowed deeply to the ground, "And there's the matter of mining ore."

"Mining ore?" Gu Shuan said slowly and deliberately, his body, which had been sitting upright, involuntarily leaning forward.

Wei Ping gritted his teeth, as if he had made up his mind: "Your Highness, I served in Liangzhou for more than ten years. About ten years ago, a major case happened in the court."

Gu Shuan's hand, which was resting on the table, suddenly tightened: "Zhan Family Army."

“Indeed. Ten years ago, a richly dressed man visited Liangzhou and asked me if I knew of any copper mines buried outside the city. I naturally did not know, and the man left without saying anything. Not long after, I heard that the Zhan family army had suffered a great defeat in a battle against Xili, and the court even declared that the Zhan family had betrayed the country and surrendered to the enemy. I originally did not think of any connection between these events, but not long after that, someone claiming to be Prince Gong contacted me.”

"Prince Gong?"

Wei Ping said, "This must be because Prince Jing did not want to reveal his identity and used Prince Gong's name."

"How did you know that it was Prince Jing who impersonated Prince Gong to contact you?" Gu Shuan asked.

“I had been to Mingzhou once before, and I met Prince Gong there, so I recognized him. But in Prince Jing’s letter, he mentioned that he had seen me in Liangzhou, and that he was the noble man who inquired about the location of the copper mine.”

He claimed to be Prince Gong, but he was clearly not Prince Gong; even his preferences and characteristics didn't match. Therefore, I suspected someone was deliberately impersonating him. I was cautious, didn't alert the messenger, and secretly inquired with former colleagues about powerful figures in the court. Later, it was confirmed that only Prince Jing had visited Liangzhou incognito that year, thus confirming the claim.

This person was quite clever, even more intelligent and worldly-wise than Gu Shuan had anticipated, but unfortunately he didn't use his talents for good.

"Go on."

"Prince Jing instructed me to search for copper mines outside the city. Later, a small copper mine was discovered in a remote valley, and a jade deposit was also unexpectedly discovered. After that, I led the people of Liangzhou to mine it. I always selected those people who had little family ties and little education, so they did not know what they were digging up. The copper and jade materials extracted from the veins were all left outside the city after being mined, and neither I nor the people ever took a single penny for ourselves."

As a reward for their hard work in mining, Prince Jing granted me permission to receive half of the profits from the weapons, and I would then distribute the remaining money to the hired laborers, thus providing them with a means of livelihood.

"As for those ores, I am not clear about the exact amount received. But I imagine it must be more than the amount of weapons."

Half of the profits from the arms trade were enough for Wei Ping to still have a mansion full of gold and silver after distributing the commissions to the people, which shows how exorbitant the profits were.

Gu Shuan asked, "How often are those weapons transported?"

"Once a month. And to avoid suspicion, only five truckloads are transported each time."

Once a month, over ten years, that would be one hundred and twenty times. That would amount to a full six hundred cartloads.

Since it was to conceal their true intentions, they would naturally use civilian horse-drawn carriages to transport munitions, rather than the armored supply vehicles used during military marches.

If all the gunpowder were transported, approximately ten thousand barrels could be carried. If siege equipment that needed to be disassembled and reassembled were also transported, then only a few dozen sets would be available. However, this would still be enough to supply an army of tens of thousands for several major battles.

So, for the past ten years, Xili has been secretly procuring weapons, waiting for this battle?

"You have absolutely no idea where those minerals were sent?"

"I truly do not know, but what I can confirm is that these mined ores did not enter our Da'an market through Liangzhou; they have most likely already flowed into other countries."

This coincides with the clues Shulang found in that inn. It is precisely because Prince Jing did not choose large-scale mining, but only excavated a small portion privately, that the people of Anguo have not discovered it until now.

Gu Shuan stood up.

This matter was far more serious than he had anticipated. According to Wei Ping, Prince Jing had been trading arms and minerals with foreign countries for the past ten years, making him rich enough to rival a nation.

He has been hiding for so many years, yet he cannot openly squander his wealth within Anguo. Why is he so rich, yet he has no ambition for that position?

If such a thing exists, how terrifying must it have been, having been planned for ten years?!

Furthermore, the court received no news of his various actions in Liangzhou, suggesting that other forces were behind this. The Emperor's attitude was also strange. Was he unwilling to delve into the Zhan family's affairs simply because he believed slander and feared Zhan Qihong's growing power, or was he already aware of the potential dangers?

The vested interests were intricately intertwined, and Gu Shuan seemed to already see a vast, interconnected web behind it all. He had to investigate thoroughly, no matter what.

He immediately summoned someone to deliver a message to Princess Changning, who was far away in Mingzhou. At present, there were not many trustworthy people in Mingzhou. Even if Changning wanted to compete with him, Gu Shu'an was certain that she would not gamble with the safety of the entire An Kingdom. At this moment, no one was more capable of taking on this task than her.

If Lin Yi were here, she would recognize this person as the one she had contacted last time to deliver the message between her and Changning.

Princess Changning firmly believed that the spies she had planted in the army were actually the Crown Prince's men!

Lin Yi, of course, had no idea what was happening in Liangzhou.

She was already overwhelmed with her own problems and extremely busy.

Hulunhe laid down a large amount of gunpowder in the royal city, with dozens of detonation points, and the huge city was instantly engulfed by a sea of ​​fire.

They underestimated the ruthlessness and cunning of the Xili people, and more than half of them were killed or wounded.

Xie Chengnan's arm, burned by the raging fire, was actually the least serious injury among them.

Zhan Xian was caught in the blast and remains in a coma.

These are all things that were not in the original book's plot.

Their original plan was to relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao, hoping to help Liangzhou escape its predicament by attacking the capital. However, they now discovered that the capital was already abandoned and was now a scorched wasteland. The An army had suffered more than half its losses, leaving only Xie Chengnan, a relatively lightly wounded soldier, to make decisions.

When Lin saw him dragging his injured body around, handling all the big and small matters in the army, her eyes were filled with heartache.

"Drink today's medicine first."

Xie Chengnan, who was staring at the map with a furrowed brow, simply took the bowl of bitter medicine and drank it all in one gulp.

In the center of the sand table stood several simple tents, with a charred ruin to the northwest. Around this area, several points were marked. Lin Yi realized that he was calculating the location of the royal tent.

The migration of herders was not random. As we learned in geography class, migration often follows the seasonal changes of summer pastures, autumn salt lakes, and winter valleys. Moreover, the book describes that the Xili people always waited until the night of the full moon before any migration or major event.

It was winter now, and Lin Yi looked at a corner of the sand table. The valley there was the most likely location.

She stretched out her delicate hand and pointed in the air, saying, "If I were a Xili person, I would move the royal tent here."

"Why?" Xie Chengnan asked.

“This place is located at the exit of an underground river, close to a water source, and is easier to hide than other places. There are only three days left until the fifteenth. Taking advantage of the bright light under the full moon, they might move here overnight. Of course, this is just my guess, and there is no evidence.” Lin Yi said.

“It’s alright,” Xie Chengnan said with a wry smile. “Since we can’t find it anyway, we might as well give it a try.”

Xie Chengnan dispatched three scouts to disperse around the valley, to investigate the extent of grassland grazing and trampling, water flow, and signs of habitation and transportation. Meanwhile, the entire army slowly advanced towards the valley.

With so many wounded soldiers, and unable to be left unattended, the marching speed was greatly slowed. Perhaps before they even found the royal tent, the Xili people would take advantage of their injuries and launch an attack. Xie Chengnan dared not be careless, strengthening vigilance day and night, remaining constantly on guard.

There were occasional skirmishes along the way, but Xie Chengnan remained vigilant and determined, and finally confirmed that the main force of the Xili people was indeed not here.

After Gu Shu'an personally took charge of Liangzhou City, the Li army was only defeated and fled on the first day. However, they regrouped and returned the next day, showing no sign of returning until they had captured Liangzhou.

Gu Shu'an was initially able to suppress Xili and resist them thanks to his abundant troops and supplies. However, by the seventh day of the battle, arrows were running out and oil was nearly exhausted. All the defensive supplies near the city had been mobilized, and even the fastest supplies would take three days to reach Liangzhou.

In contrast, the Western Li had ample military equipment.

Xi Li seemed to know that An Jun was at his wit's end, and his offensive intensified.

Amidst the raging gunfire, someone attempted to sneak into the city, but was shot through the collar by an arrow from a sentry guard, pinning him to the spot.